Mustafa Kemal's ideas won't loose their value, just because they don't like him...
I do not know any contemporary Western democracy where ideas of a single man are felt so profoundly in the politics and daily life. It is therefore perhaps difficult for those living in these democracies to appreciate the status of Mustafa Kemal, the founder of the single democracy in the Islamic state tradition, in the Turkish society.
I´came to believe that an agreement of a true "separation of state and religion in a society is one of the main pre-conditions of democracy. In the face of rising Political-religion -Political Islam, Political Christianity, Political Hinduism- his revolutionary reformations he undertook in the 1920's have been attacked from the political Islam side in Turkey very harshly these days.
In one of the recent such rows, two young Islamists were taken to the court after they declared on TV that they did not like Mustafa Kemal, but preferred the old Iranian revolutionary leader Khomeini. The draconian protection of revolutionary ideas laws -which are the unfortunate results of almost every revolution- were the reasons why they were taken to court. In a very relieving statement, the public prosecutor declared there was no need for such a process. He said:
"Mustafa Kemal's ideas won't loose their value, just because they don't like him..."
I hope this ruling serves as a base, on which we can build our next constitution, and get rid of such protection of revolution laws.
In the end the values of the ideas of people are hard to cover. It is thanks to Ataturk's reforms that these girls can express their views in private and public in Turkey. It is thanks to Khomeini's ideas that people are hanged and stoned publicly in Iran for expressing their views or loving people of their own sex...
Rules to protect Ataturk's ideas from comparasion with Khomeni's? No thank you.
I´came to believe that an agreement of a true "separation of state and religion in a society is one of the main pre-conditions of democracy. In the face of rising Political-religion -Political Islam, Political Christianity, Political Hinduism- his revolutionary reformations he undertook in the 1920's have been attacked from the political Islam side in Turkey very harshly these days.
In one of the recent such rows, two young Islamists were taken to the court after they declared on TV that they did not like Mustafa Kemal, but preferred the old Iranian revolutionary leader Khomeini. The draconian protection of revolutionary ideas laws -which are the unfortunate results of almost every revolution- were the reasons why they were taken to court. In a very relieving statement, the public prosecutor declared there was no need for such a process. He said:
"Mustafa Kemal's ideas won't loose their value, just because they don't like him..."
I hope this ruling serves as a base, on which we can build our next constitution, and get rid of such protection of revolution laws.
In the end the values of the ideas of people are hard to cover. It is thanks to Ataturk's reforms that these girls can express their views in private and public in Turkey. It is thanks to Khomeini's ideas that people are hanged and stoned publicly in Iran for expressing their views or loving people of their own sex...
Rules to protect Ataturk's ideas from comparasion with Khomeni's? No thank you.
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